Mr. Chairman, I find the minister's comments about the ability of the department to respond to incidents rather curious. He mentioned incidents like 9/11 and Swissair but failed to mention the most recent incident which occurred off the mouth of the Fraser River this past summer.
After that incident, the minister suggested that the Coast Guard divers were mistaken when they did not request permission to enter the overturned vessel. The fact of the matter is that they were directed not to. George Horel, the director of operational services, notes that if members had entered the overturned vessel it would have amounted to a violation of fleet safety procedures that would not be tolerated either now or later.
The minister suggested that the fleet safety regulations were somehow superceded by the Canada Labour Code. The Canada Labour Code does not empower divers to enter overturned vessels. In fact, it puts the onus on the rescue coordinator.
There is a huge discrepancy between the minister's comments and reality and I would like him to set the record straight this evening.